The Archive

Theirs is still the only South American team never to qualify for a World Cup, but things are looking up for the football fans of Caracas as they emerge from the shadow of baseball. Rodrigo Orihuela explains

Since the iconoclastic Hugo Chávez became Venezuelan president in 1999, the country has become a fixture in the international political and financial press. Chávez’s fiery anti-American discourse, his friendship with Cuba’s ailing Fidel Castro and his recent drive against privately owned business corporations have cemented his place as one of the world’s ­leading maverick heads of state. Until recently, Venezuela made few football headlines. But Chávez is likely to use this year’s Copa América in Venezuela – the first played in the country – as a showcase for his policies, while the national team may give their baseball-mad president genuine cause for celebration.

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Without leaving his desk, Ian Plenderleith enjoys the finest and funniest views of football in Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and beyond, in his latest look at sites that highlight photographs of the game

It must be at least a matter of months since this column lauded football photographers on the internet but, in the absence of many inspiring new sites in prose, we’re compelled once again to recommend images over words. Just for a change, though, we’ll make it a condition that the sites must have a Benelux connection.

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Is Sepp Blatter taking the Michel?

Here’s a straw to clutch on to. Anything that annoys or in-conveniences the Premiership’s big four clubs must be at some level a good thing. On the face of it, Michel Platini’s election as the new UEFA president – he defeated the incumbent Lennart Johansson by 27 votes to 23 – comes into that category. One of the main planks of Platini’s campaign was a proposal to cut the maximum number of Champions League qualifiers any country can have to three, beginning with the next TV deal in 2009-10. That Platini explicitly said that he would like to see greater representation for the champions from around eastern Europe probably helped to swing the final vote.

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Dear WSC
The surprisingly rapturous reception given to the old has-been Sylvester Stallone by fans at Everton v Reading led me to wonder which celebrities have received the worst reaction at a match. The one that springs to my mind is when Ted Rogers, oily host of ITV gameshow 3-2-1, did a pre-match raffle draw at Stamford Bridge in the late 1980s. Taking the microphone he shouted something like “Alright Blues, are we gonna win today or what?” and was met with a torrent of prolonged abuse from all around the ground. It was magnificent and he duly scarpered as quickly as he could manage. It may have been a reaction to the crappy show, but his faux-matey tone was probably the main cause. In general, celebs are on a hiding to nothing if they attempt to speak to the crowd. Just wave and smile for the photos then zoom off ASAP for the cognac and Ferrero Rocher in the boardroom.
David Senior, via email

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Monday 1 Manchester United miss a chance to go nine points clear, drawing 2‑2 at injury-hit Newcastle. Liverpool’s 3‑0 win over Bolton takes them third. “They’ve shown me in the last couple of weeks why they are down there,” says Alan Curbishley as West Ham crash 6‑0 at Reading, their third successive defeat. Wigan drop to 17th after a fifth straight loss, 3‑0 at home to Blackburn. Antti Niemi is hospitalised with a serious neck injury in Fulham’s 0‑0 draw with Watford. Derby’s 2‑1 win at Preston takes them to within three points of Championship leaders Birmingham, beaten by a 90th‑minute goal at Ipswich. Torquay are six points adrift in League Two after losing 1‑0 at Bristol Rovers.

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